The Reunion
by crocious
Summary: Harry Potter didn't want to go to his Hogwarts ten year reunion. He didn't want to go back and relive the war with his classmates. He didn't want to visit his first real home and see how little it's changed, or worse, how much. But even after the hero saves the day, he still has to listen to his wife. And after all, what use is saving the day if you don't care about tomorrow?
1. A Disturbing Letter

"Oh come on, Harry. You know you'd have fun."

"No, I do _not_ know that."

" _I_ would have fun."

"Then you can go to yours. I'm not stopping you."

Harry and Ginny Potter's voices were hushed so as not to wake the kids. At the barest hint of excitement, little Albus would wake up and come shuffling into his parents' bed, bringing Padfoot along. And then Harry would have to wake up smelling like dog breath and exhaustion.

"I'm not going and that's final."

Ginny heaved herself up to turn on the lamp and turned sternly to her husband. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

The Molly voice. "Nothing's wrong," Harry said, immediately on the defensive. "I just don't want to go."

"Harry James Potter, I don't have anywhere to be in the morning. So help me God I will call your son in here if you don't start acting like an adult and tell me why you don't want to go to your bloody ten year reunion."

"Ginny…"

"Don't you test me."

"We'll talk about this in the morning."

"Say yes for now."

"In the _morning._ "

"Oh, _Alb-_ "

"Yes for now, _yes for now!_ "

Ginny patted her enormous stomach triumphantly and kissed Harry on the temple. "Goodnight, dear."

"Goodnight, doe."

…

"I dun wanfa fo."

"For goodness' sake, Ron, not in front of-" But it was already too late, as it usually was. Rose stuffed her mouth with scrambled eggs and made exaggerated " _MAMF MAMF MAMF_ " noises until Crookshanks Jr was mewing with delight. " _Now_ look what you've done."

"Dun ack like you didn' know whatchoo were geddin' innoo." Ron grinned through his mouthful of bagel and Hermione had to smother her smile in coffee, lest the children realize they could get away with it.

After Ron swallowed, but before he could stuff another bite into his mouth, Hermione asked. "Where don't you want to go?"

"Hmm?" Ron slurped his orange juice. "Didn't you get the invitation too?"

"Invitation? To what?" But before the words left her lips, she realized. "Oh God. Has it really… I see."

Ron fished a letter from his dressing robe pocket. "Oh, right. It says _The Weasleys_. Heh, I guess I'm just not used to that yet."

Hermione took the slightly crumpled letter from her husband's hands and ran her fingers over the golden emboss that addressed the Class of 1997. She unfolded it gingerly and the Hogwarts class song magically filled the kitchen, enrapturing the baby.

"Bloody dreadful, innit?"

"Yes…" _To Mr Ron Weasley and Mrs Hermione Granger-Weasley. You are cordially invited to the Hogwarts Class of 1998 Ten-Year Reunion, to be held in the Hogwarts Great Hall on July the 30_ _th_ _, 2008. Entertainment will include dancing, performances by the Flitwick Choral Group alumni and_ Weird Sisters _tribute band_ Oddboys, _pin-the-sock-on-the-headmaster, and much more. Come see your fellow alumni and vete-_

Hermione hastily folded the letter back up and the music stopped abruptly as she slammed it on the table. "We're not going."

"S'wot I say," Ron scowled, his mouth again full of eggs. "We already see everyone we want to see. And you can't drink."

"And who would watch Rosie?"

"Well, mum would. But you have to work that day anyway."

"Well, it's a Saturday. But you have the shop to run."

"Well, George won't let me in the shop without him anymore. But it's not like anyone we know is going."

At that moment the fireplace burst into green flames and Ginny's face popped through the fire.

"Oh good, I caught you both!"

"Bloody hell, Ginny!" Ron shrieked, pulling his robe tight.

"Don't swear in front of Rosie!" she snapped. "Hullo nosy Rosie! How's Auntie's favorite?"

Hermione raised her coffee in salute. "Hullo, Ginny."

"Hey, Hermione. Tell Harry he has to go to his ten-year reunion."

Harry's face appeared next to Ginny's, annoyed. "Or _don't._ "

"Tell him this is a great opportunity to-" The Potters both turned their heads over their shoulders to shout " _Bye Teddy!_ " and turned back the Weasleys "-see everyone again and catch up."

"Tell _Ginny_ that I don't want to go and it's _my_ reunion, so she can't make me."

"Well," said Ron.

"It's _our_ reunion," finished Hermione.

"Right," said Ginny "It doesn't just belong to you."

"Exactly," Hermione nodded.

"What about everyone else in your class?"

"Yeah," Ron agreed.

"Don't you think _they_ want to see _you_?"

"Wait..."

"No…"

"Then it's settled!" Ginny clapped her hands and Rosie clapped too, giggling. "We're all going. Harry, dear, help me up."

Harry glared at Ron and Hermione before waving to his niece. "Bye-bye, Rosie-posy!"

"Bye-bye! Bye-bye!"

The Potters disappeared with the green flames and the kitchen was quiet.

"Well," Ron said after a moment. "That could have gone better."

"I'll find Harry at work," Hermione said, taking a final sip of coffee and standing up. "We'll figure out a way to tactfully tell Ginny why we don't want to go." She kissed her husband on the forehead and he kissed her on the barely bulging belly.

"Don't forget to clean up before I get home."

"Yes, darling."

…

"Neville? Hi, it's Hermione Granger. Yes, everyone is doing lovely, thank you. Oh Rosie just _loves_ that little blanket you knitted her, she won't go anywhere without it! And how is Hannah? Oh yeah? You don't say! Actually, about that. It turns out that we actually _will_ be able to come to the reunion. Yes, Harry and Ginny as well. Oh no, Neville, that's not necessary. We were really just hoping…no, no, no, nothing like that. Of course not. Of _course_ we do! Neville, dear, of course we are! It's just…never mind. No, it's nothing, really. Nothing important. I look forward to seeing you. Thank you, Neville. Goodbye."


	2. Homeward Bound

**I know I'm kind of cutting into my stock of chapters by posting two in one night, but I wanted to prove that this isn't just a one-shot story and I'm interested in seeing it through. My goal is to update once a week from here on out, so if I fail to see you again next Thursday night, please feel free to nag. Assuming, of course, that you want me to continue.**

 **~Cro**

Harry and Ron fidgeted unhappily with their dress robes while Hermione and Ginny chatted on the park bench.

"Have you figured a name yet?"

"We still can't agree. Harry wants to name her after McGonagall, but I think Ruby Potter sounds much prettier."

"Hagrid wouldn't know what to do with himself."

Ginny laughed lightly. "I guess worst case, we can name her Pugwinger the Ninth. After my favorite broom."

"Maybe sleep on that one."

Harry and Ron stood in front of the oak tree that would turn into a portkey in about four minutes as Muggle families rushed their children away from the strange men in dressy pyjamas. Neither was especially happy about it.

"I hate this," Ron murmured under his breath low enough so his wife and sister wouldn't hear. "I'm not ready at all for this."

"Me either," Harry responded quietly. "I thought it would be easy going back, but…"

"I know. Me too."

They both inhaled sharply and adjusted their robes.

"Maybe it won't be a big deal," Harry said hopefully. "Maybe everyone just wants to move on too."

"You're Harry bloody Potter. When has anything ever turned out not to be a big deal?"

"Don't act like you didn't know what you were getting into."

"I'm not complaining, mate. I just don't…" Ron fumbled around for the words.

"Me either," Harry said softly.

They stood silently until the tree's bark began to glow.

"Hermione, Ginny!" Ron called. "Let's get this over with!"

Harry rushed over to the bench to help his heavily pregnant wife to the tree. Hermione clutched Ron's shoulder nervously and both placed their hands on the trunk. Ginny practically fell onto the now brightly glowing bark with a satisfied grunt. The light was now pulsing a warning light that all the muggles in the park ignored.

"Harry?"

Harry looked at his best friends, his brother, his sister, his beautiful wife. He looked at the tree. And the quickening pulses. But he couldn't bring himself to move.

Then he was yanked to the tree by both of his hands. Hermione and Ron smiled on each side of him. "Together," they said.

And then they were on the Hogwarts grounds, surrounded by dozens of trees and dozens of people.

Harry looked around and saw nothing but familiar faces. There was Ernie MacMillan hugging an oak tree with Justin Finch-Fletchley ten meters out. There were Padma and Parvati Patil, radiant in blue and red sarees respectively. There was Sue Li and a woman Harry guessed was her wife. And past them, Nott, who'd grown nicely into his rabbit teeth and beanpole frame, thanks, Harry supposed, to the chubby and cheerful witch beside him.

There was a moment of quiet as everyone caught their feet. And then an uproar. Witches and wizards ran up to one another and hugged them as if they hadn't seen each other in ages, which was probably the case. Pansy Parkinson squealed as she ran up a hulking mass it took Harry a second to recognize as Goyle, while Hannah Longbottom came careening from her husband to jump, laughing, onto Justin and Ernie. Michael Corner tapped Ginny on the shoulder and they greeted each other warmly, excitedly.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione amidst the chaos. They were exactly as confused as he was. The last time they'd seen most of these people, they'd just gotten done winning a war. This wasn't a time for jubilation. And yet…

"Harry! Hey, HARRY!"

"Ron! Harry! Over here!"

Harry and Ron turned around, surprised, to see two men with thinning hair and crow's feet that looked a lot like Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas waving at them from a maple tree, and Harry couldn't suppress his grin.

"Dean! Seamus!"

Ron jogged out to them and wrapped Dean in a bear hug. Harry glanced over at Ginny, who was insisting Michael touch her belly, and Hermione, who had just seen Parvati and was wrapped up in her own greetings. So Harry joined them.

"Harry, mate, thought you weren't coming!"

"It's good to see you boys! My, you have grown! What's Hermione been feeding you?"

"Oh, leave off, Shorty Seamus!"

"Oy!"

"Dean, wow! Seamus! How've you two been?"

Dean and Seamus beamed at Harry. "Just great," Seamus said.

"Lovely!"

"Been working!"

"Did you hear Seamus' explosion-proof cauldron got picked up by the Ministry?"

"That was yours? Thanks, mate! They work wonders!"

Seamus shrugged dismissively. "Well, Dean here's started a football program in our neighborhood. They made champions two years in a row."

"Including Seamus' girl! She's the best midfielder in our league, I can barely keep track of her on the field!"

"You have a kid?" Ron asked, genuinely surprised.

"More'r'less. Been fostering with me girlfriend, and Gracie's just…"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Gracie's his and everyone knows it. We have a pool going how long it'll take him to finally adopt her."

"She does have a way with fireworks," Seamus' eyes sparkled. "She actually starts Hogwarts in September."

"Oh, you foster magical kids?"

"Mostly war orphans."

Harry's heart dropped to his stomach.

"Most got adopted straight off, you remember how everyone was making arrangements worst case. But how often does that work out? So Diane's at the muggle CPS, she makes sure all kids with magical blood come through us or other magical families."

"I think Wood does it too, right?"

"And Bell. She just adopted Burbage's boy."

"Natural chaser, that. Shame he got sorted into Ravenclaw."

Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as pale as he felt.

"That's…"

"That's wonderful, Seamus," Harry finished for his friend. "Truly."

Seamus shrugged. "You do what you can and hope it's enough. But you know all about that, don't you?"

"How's the Lupin boy?" Dean asked cheerfully.

Ron let out a long, relieved breath. "I think Teddy's going through a girl phase, right Harry?"

Harry nodded and smiled despite himself. "She looks just like her mother. Sometimes."

"Sometimes he looks like his dad."

"And sometimes she looks like a goose. Makes going out an ordeal."

A familiar voice boomed through the trees and everyone looked in the direction it seemed to be coming from.

"Hullo, can everyone hear me? Everyone?"

Harry stood on his tiptoes to see Neville Longbottom, no longer awkward in his crimson cardigan, standing on a large tree stump with his wand pointed at his throat. "Welcome, Hogwarts class of 1997!"

A few people cheered and Neville smiled. "We have come a very long way since graduation, that's for sure! But there will be time to catch up in the Great Hall."

A line of carriages drawn by skeletal thestrals pulled in from the left and Dean made a face.

"Those things give me the creeps," he murmured. Similar whisper could be heard throughout the crowd and Harry realized: every single solitary person in the crowd could see the deathly winged horses.

"For now," Neville's voice boomed, "Four to a carriage. I'll meet you all back at Hogwarts!"

Neville caught Harry's eye and winked meaningfully before hopping into the moving carriage with his wife and her best friends.

Seamus flagged down a thestral. "Coming?" asked Dean.

Michael Corner and Hermione supported Ginny on their way over and Harry shook his head. "Mind if Ginny catches a ride with you?"

"Not at all!" Seamus and Dean helped Ginny into the carriage and Michael, after an encouraging nod from Harry, followed in.

One by one, the thestrals led the carriages away until only Harry and his two best friends were left.

"Fancy a stroll, boys?" Hermione asked.

Ron extended his arm and Harry his.

"Yes, that would be lovely."

"Quite."

"Indeed."

"Verily."

And laughing, the three uneasily made their way to the castle.


	3. A Warm Hearth

In many ways, the Hogwarts grounds were much the same as they'd been when Harry, Hermione and Ron were in school. The lake was still dark and opaque. The grass was still greener than was reasonable. The trees were still old and giant.

But in many ways, they had irrevocably changed, and it pained Harry to know that his children would never know a Whomping Willow without a nasty perpetually oozing scar in its trunk. Or a Giant Squid with the right number of tentacles. Or a Quidditch pitch without permanent curse scorches in the grass.

But for now, it was comforting to know that Hagrid's hut was still small enough for a giant man and a giant dog and that the chimney was still smoking.

Harry pointed the hut out to Ron and Hermione. "Look! Hagrid's home!" And had Hermione not been just pregnant enough to prevent it, they would have raced to the door. But they strolled leisurely and happily, taking comfort in the fact that some things are just too important to change.

"Hagrid!" Harry called as he pounded the door.

They heard fierce barking and a giant voice. "Oi, calm down, ye grea' mutt! Siddown! Sit! Goo' girl!" The house rumbled as Hagrid threw open the door. "Izzat 'oo I think it is? 'Arry! Ron! 'Ermione!" They were bowled over by a giant grey blur of fur and tongue.

"OI! Dora! You stop that now!" The huge mastiff had her paws on Harry's chest and was licking his face until he swore he was more slobber than man. Hagrid picked the dog up with one hand and hoisted Harry and his friends up one by one with the other.

"Sorry, sorry, still dunno 'er own strength! Like 'er daddy, this one! Oh, ye never knew Fang when 'e was a puppy, huh? That dog coulda gave Aragog a run fer 'is money. Never woulda let 'im, o'course, bu' still! Down, girl! Down! Feisty, this'un!"

Hermione was sniggering into her hand until she snorted, which mad Ron laugh out loud. And soon Hagrid was enveloped, or near as can be, by the group in a warm, giggling hug that barely came up to his waist.

"Oh, Hagrid," Hermione laughed into his fur vest.

"Missed you, mate."

Harry caught Hagrid's watery eyes. "We really did."

Hagrid smiled through his beard and squeezed them all tightly.

"Hrumf," he grunted suddenly. "Well, come in, then! I s'pose yer here fer the reunion, yeah? Dun wanna fill y'up, but I've jus' started th' tea. Oh, an' a fresh batch o' Cauldron Cakes! I 'member, ye like 'em hot outta th' oven, right 'Ermione?"

Hermione, rather than making an excuse, grinned tearfully at Hagrid. "This may be the baby talking," she said, "but I could probably eat a dozen Cauldron Cakes."

"YER PREGNAN'?!" Hagrid roared. "Tha's WONDERFUL! Congratulations, you two!" He pulled Ron and Hermione in for a bear hug and they laughed, blushing. "D'ya know if it's a boy or a girl? Wait, dun tell me! I wanna be surprised! Oh, I bet it's a boy! Wouldja like tha'? A little boy runnin' aroun' th' 'ouse! Rosie'll be so pleased!"

"She's been gunning for a sister," Ron chuckled. "Or a kitten."

Hagrid roared with laughter. "A drink! No' you, 'Ermione, o' course! Two expectin' dads! 'Ave an ale witcher old teacher, eh? 'Ermione, think I've some butterbeer fer ya, hang on…"

With promises that he'd join up at the castle after the initial ruckus died down, Hagrid sent them on up with bellies full of stale beer and a box filled with rock hard cauldron cakes. Hermione munched as they walked, saying tearfully that they tasted just how she remembered.

"Um," Harry said as the magnificent castle loomed bigger. "Does something seem…strange to you?"

"What, like how Hermione's eating Hagrid's cooking even though he's not watching?" She smacked his arm playfully.

Just as Harry opened his mouth to answer, the procession of thestral-drawn carriages approached the castle.

"And here we are!" Neville's voice boomed, and the entire line seemed to groan "Finally" and "About time."

"We got here first?" Ron said, surprised. Neville spotted them and waved, pointing towards the castle in an exaggerated "See you inside" motion. "You probably remember this courtyard," he said as the thestrals trotted along, "but did you know it's actually made from the same bricks used to construct the original castle? It's been rebuilt a few times, but…"

He kept talking, much to the chagrin of the faces in the carriages.

"Harry!"

Harry looked up to see an elated Ginny hop out of her carriage right next to him with the grace of a nine-months-pregnant Chaser. Dean, Seamus and Michael all waved as they passed by and Harry hugged his wife.

"What took you so long?"

"Neville wanted to take us on a guided tour of the grounds," Ginny said. She mimicked Neville's excited timbre. "'And this is where the deciduous Corpuscular Mudvines roost for the winter, and this is where Mega Skrewts poop miracles, blah blah blah.' Did you see Hagrid? How is he?"

Hermione offered Ginny a cauldron cake in answer and Ginny politely declined.

"He's fine," Harry said, steering his wife toward the castle. "Great even, same as he's always been."

"Oh, good," Ginny said warmly. "We should have him over more often, you know James loves him."

"Did you put an Undetectable Extension Charm on your house, then?"

Ginny glared at her brother. "You be nice."

"Nice? He's literally- Hermione, tell her Hagrid's half a giant!"

"Be nife, Ron'ld," Hermione said through a mouthful of cake.

Harry shrugged and laughed. "Peewee Quidditch starts soon. Hagrid'll love that."

"Great idea!"

They came to the empty carriages and the stragglers headed into the Entrance Hall. "Hey, Harry," everyone seemed to say. "Hi, Hermione, Ron."

"Terry, good to see you! How've you been?"

"Mandy! Hullo!"

"Hi, Leanne!"

"Is that Anthony Goldstein?"

"Hi, Anthony!"

The doors loomed and they stopped.

Harry thought that seeing the doors to the castle for the first time in ten years would be emotional. The last time he'd seen them, after all, they were still smoking from some unknown curse that had splintered them and charred all the little bits. The doors, like so much of Harry's home for seven years, was not built to withstand an attack full on by hundreds of Death Eaters. When Harry had prepared this morning for his return, he'd expected the doors would be the hardest to handle.

But it didn't hit him like he thought it would. Or at least, he thought as he watched his classmates stroke the new wood, at turns reverently, fondly, gratefully, and with trepidation- it didn't hit him alone.

He looked at his brother. His sister. His wife. Ron couldn't contain his glee at seeing the castle again, at last, while Hermione closed her eyes to breathe in the fresh varnish that still, somehow, smelled ancient and magical. Only Ginny was watching him, carefully, as if she knew he was going to trip and fall and hurt himself.

Partly to reassure her, partly to reassure himself, Harry clutched her hand.

"Come on," he said brightly. "The party's about to start."

On their way in, Harry ran his fingers along the seams in the wood.


	4. The Opening Speech

**Y'ALL.**

 **This is late for a reason. It is late because I had to force myself to publish. If you don't like this story, don't read or comment. Don't waste my time with what you would do differently if you were writing it- you aren't, otherwise I wouldn't. Don't waste my time criticizing my stylistic choices- I'm confident in my own writing style, quite so, and I only write for free to hone it. Don't waste either of our times with negativity- this is supposed to be a fun time for everyone, and I am not having fun right now. I realize now I shouldn't have started fanfiction on such a diverse fandom as Harry Potter, but I have and dammit, I'm going to finish this. Please, if you're going to be negative, take it somewhere else. I don't want to start deleting comments, but I will.**

 **-Cro**

The Entrance Hall was alive with chatter.

But not necessarily _alive_ , alive, as to say that would be offensive to the pale figures tossing ghostly confetti over their heads.

The Entrance Hall was teeming, rather, with chatter.

"Look! Look! I told you he'd show up!" boasted a tubby woman ghost.

"Yes, yes," another said impatiently. "You win. Malfoy! You lost me three sickles!"

"Malfoy?" Despite himself, Harry craned his neck around to find the source of the ghosts' amusement, but he found himself in the middle of the crowd with Hermione, separated from their Weasleys.

"Ginny? Ginny!"

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm. "Wow, a lot of people showed up. I wasn't expecting our entire class."

"Yeah…" Harry let out a chuckle. "Hey, remember the last time we were all in the Entrance Hall together?"

"Hmm, that would be…" Hermione laughed. "Oh, you mean the Sorting Ceremony! We were all so nervous! Oh, Harry, you were shaking like a leaf."

"Of course I was! I still wasn't sure any of this was real. I was afraid I'd get into the Great Hall and just wake up in my cupboard under the stairs with the Dursleys screaming at me to start breakfast."

"I was afraid they'd tell me there'd been a mistake," Hermione said quietly. "I'd put on the Sorting Hat and it would say 'Oops, sorry about that, we meant to get HENRY Granger, you're not a witch after all."

"And it didn't even let you off the hook," Harry chuckled.

"And it didn't even let me off the hook! I sat there for, what, three? Four minutes?"

"Must have been!"

"No, 'Oh, nothing to worry about, dearie!' No, 'Hold tight just a sec, I can't figure out which magical magic house to place you in.' No, 'Don't be silly, we're not going to send you back.'"

"The Sorting Hat can be a right prick sometimes."

They watched Terry Boot catch up with Michael Corner and the Patil girls. They clapped each other on the shoulders, grinning ear to ear and talking too fast for Harry to make out the words.

"Though," Hermione said, "I can't imagine now it could have gone any other way."

Harry threw his arm around her shoulders. "I'm glad you got sorted into Gryffindor."

She squeezed Harry's hand affectionately. "Me too."

The ghosts gradually fell silent and disappeared and a hush fell over the Entrance Hall. Then slowly, as if they had spent years at a drama academy in London learning just how to milk the suspense for this precise moment, the doors to the Great Hall opened.

The throng of people pushed in and Harry and Hermione didn't bother to fight it. They were too overcome by the sight before them to resist it, and even though it had been seventeen years since the first time they'd seen what magic can do, they gaped.

The rare blue Scottish sky bore down from the enchanted ceiling onto dozens of small circular tables, laden with crystal bottles of firewhiskey and sweetly humming daisy pots. The walls glittered with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires arranged to read, in numerous styles, "Class of 1998." Looking down, they'd even been magically embedded into the floor. Moving photographs of moments throughout their seven years at Hogwarts floated through the air- there was Lockheart giving his speech at the first feast of the year, there was Ron holding the Quidditch Cup over his head, there was Hannah twirling in her Yule Ball gown with Justin and Ernie- and with a pang, Harry counted all the photos that he'd seen Colin Creevey take. The one of Harry reading his own Triwizard Tournament bio in the Daily Prophet hit especially hard. Hermione grabbed it out of the air and shoved it into her purse.

At the front of the Great Hall, where the professors usually sat, was a raised platform backdropped with red velvet curtains. Neville stood upon the stage with his hands on his hips and a self-conscious smile and Harry realized just how well the role of "professor" suited him. His cardigans, his mussed hair, his stubble, his booming, confident voice- it was all so different from scared little boy that needed a remembrall to tell him he'd forgotten his remembrall in first year. He wasn't just grown up- Neville Longbottom was a man.

Hermione muttered a quiet spell to zip his fly back up.

Harry spotted two ginger heads and he waved Harry and Ginny over.

"There you are," Ron said. "What did I say about wandering off, young lady?"

"Let's find a table," Ginny said cheerfully. "I think Neville's about to give a speech and I don't want to miss it."

Neither, it seemed, did anyone else. The tables around them filled quickly with students pouring tall glasses of firewhiskey to eagerly await what, some whispered, would be "a bumbling mess." Thinking that extremely unkind, Harry led the group through the crowd to the only somewhat empty table. Only Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, two Slytherins Harry had never really talked to, were sitting down, and both looked mortified when Harry Potter sat down across from them.

Daphne glared at the Weasleys and stood up. "Anyway, I have to get back to Mark. I left him alone with those Gryffindorks and Finnegan might accidentally blow him up. I'll find you later." Astoria turned as white as a sheet when Daphne walked away.

"Astoria," Hermione greeted placidly.

"Hullo, then."

"Been a while."

"Yes, it has. How have you all been?"

"Well, thank you. And yourself?"

"Quite well."

They sat silently at the table, until-

"Tori, dear, there you are. I just got away from-"

Draco Malfoy stopped in his tracks when he spotted who was at his wife's table. Still tall and still thin, the only noticeable difference between Hogwarts Malfoy and the Malfoy standing in front of Harry were the crinkles in the corner of his eyes and the receding hairline, which only served to accentuate his pale widow's peak.

"Potter."

"Malfoy."

"Granger. Weasleys."

"Malfoy."

Malfoy cautiously pulled out the chair next to Astoria. "I see you've already said hello to my wife."

Ron choked on his butterbeer.

"Your _wife?_ " Ginny sputtered.

"You got _married?_ "

"Ron!"

Harry looked up carefully. Malfoy was glaring at his glass of firewhiskey. Harry knew from that pose that he was clutching Astoria's hand for dear life. It was the "Lunch with Dudley" pose, and for a moment, Harry felt sorry for him.

"Well, good on you, mate," he heard himself say. "Congratulations!"

Draco looked up, duly surprised.

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "Congratulations. How long now?"

Astoria and Draco Malfoy both sighed in relief. "Going on four years now," she said, smiling gently.

"Oh, wonderful!" Ginny grinned. "That's truly wonderful! Oh Draco, we were all so afraid you'd end up marrying…" she hissed a whisper, " _Pansy Parkinson_!"

"HA!" Draco let out a loud guffaw and immediately blushed self-consciously as students from other tables looked their way. "Ha, no, no, that's… Dear God, what is wrong with you people?"

Astoria waved her hand dismissively. "Thank goodness no. I've heard all the stories about that girl, and I assure you, Draco wouldn't last a week married to her."

As if on cue, a Pansy-sounding shriek of laughter rang in from the other side of the hall and everyone at the table cringed.

There was a beat of awkward silence. Harry looked from Ginny to Draco and accidentally caught his eye. They both looked away.

Ginny raised her voice. "So, Astoria-"

She was drowned out, mercifully, by Neville's voice booming through the hall.

"-two, three. Testing. Ah, there it goes! Hello, Class of 1998, and welcome to your ten year reunion!"

Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas were the only ones cheering with the Hufflepuffs.

"Thank you all for taking time out of your lives to come back to Hogwarts for one more night! As you all may know, I'm Neville Longbottom-" every Gryffindor in the house cheered, along with most of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, accompanied by a smattering of applause from the Slytherins- "Yes, thank you, and I've been charged with organizing this year's reunion. We'll have the Oddboys later, playing hits from the Weird Sister's 1998 best-selling album, _And Then There Were Two-_ " - _Woo!_ \- "-and the reunion of some of Flitwick's Choral A Capella Collective. We have some wonderful food, courtesy of the Hogwarts house elves." A procession of shy house elves waved from the kitchen, headed, it seemed, by Winky herself, and Hermione cheered louder than anyone else, but Harry had to remind himself that Dobby wouldn't be there, no matter how hard he looked. "Also bottomless butterbeer and firewhiskey, thanks to my lovely wife, the beautiful one over there in the yellow dress. Hi, Hannah!"

"Hi, sweetie!"

"We also have games!" Harry felt his chair scoot away from the table backwards, and he heard dozens all over the Great Hall do the same. "This one's my favorite, it's called "If You Try to Sit in a Corner Then Be Prepared to Meet New Friends." I didn't come up with the name, that would be my dear friend Luna Lovegood."

"Luna?" Harry said as his chair pulled him up to a table with Terry Boot, one of the Patils, Hannah Longbottom and a dumbfounded Goyle.

"Luna helped me organize this. I asked her to come, but she is, unfortunately, on a tracking trip with her husband in Finland. But she was adamant that I carry out her greetings tonight, so if I come up to you and tell you I think your hair looks great, please remember that I probably don't. That's just Luna."

There was a bit of appreciative laughter and Neville grinned. "There's also chess, cards, dancing, trivia, and later on, we'll have some special guests speak. So enjoy tonight! We've earned it!"

Harry clapped and cheered and Hannah stood up to whistle loudly. When the noise died down, she sat again, grinning proudly. "That's my husband," she informed Terry.

"Yeah, got that," he said pleasantly, taking his fingers out of his ears.

Harry turned to the Patil beside him. "Hullo, Parvati. Been a while."

"Yes it has! I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason, too. You don't just not invite your friends to your wedding."

"We just… it was very small, and…"

"Save it," she said pointedly, and it took Harry a second to realize she was just taking the piss. "I get it, Boy Who Lived too famous to hang out with someone who watched him cry in high school."

"I never-!"

"Big sloppy wet crier," Parvati said to Goyle cheerfully. "Thought I'd say no to taking him to the Yule Ball. Should've, of course, but I didn't know that then, did I? Rubbish dancer, he is, positively dreadful!"

Harry colored to Goyle and Terry's amusement and Parvati continued to regale them with stories of how embarrassing Harry had been in school, just mortifyingly angsty, like you wouldn't believe.

"Oh, lay off, Parvati!" Hannah said sweetly. "Like you were any better, mooning over Professor Firenze every Divination class you had!"

"I do not _moon_ , I'll have you know! I _pine_. Padma moons, it's quite embarrassing."

Neville came up to the table then and kissed his wife on the cheek. "Hello darling."

"Hello, love."

"Terry, Luna wants you to know she really loves your handwriting. Parvati, your column in the Prophet is always the highlight of Luna's morning. Harry, you ought to come nargle-hunting with Luna and Rolf sometime before the baby comes, and also she's pregnant. Goyle, you've always had a lovely rear."

"Luna's _preg-_ "

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Luna's message, not mine!" Neville said hurriedly. He sat down between Harry and Hannah. "How was that, dear?"

"Perfectly perfect, naturally!"

"Excellent!"

"Wait," Harry said. "Luna's _pregnant_?"

"She is!" Neville smiled. "They'll be getting married in March, after the baby, and I've been instructed to ask you to be one of her bridesmen. Hermione, Ron and Ginny too, of course, along with nearly all the DA. Yes, Parvati," Neville said before she could get a word out, "you too."

"Neville's the maid of honor," Hannah giggled. "He's taking it very seriously."

"Of course I am," he said. "Luna Lovegood deserves one hell of a wedding, and I aim to help!"

"Should be interesting, at any rate."

"Oh, it'll be out of this world. Harry, mate how're you? How's my littlest godson?"

Harry automatically reached into his breast pocket to pull out the booklet of pictures of his family. "Albus is great, he's starting to talk now! Unfortunately, James and Teddy got to him first. But so it goes."

"Oh dear," Hannah smiled.

"What was his first word?"

Parvati broke away from Goyle to stare expectantly at Harry with her chin on her fist. "Yes, Harry, what was your child's first word?"

"Are we going to do this all night? Could we not?"

"Hang on, I've a right to know my godson's first word! Especially if it's a bad one!"

"It's a…really bad one."

The table leaned in to listen more closely.

Harry sighed and whispered it into Neville's ear.

Neville turned a little green. "Oh. Oh my. That's… something."

"And imagine little two year old Albus running through the house, screaming it over and over. On a related note, we need you to come over and discipline your godson."

"Me?! Why me?"

"We… can't stop laughing. He's still got that lisp, and we can't send him to timeout without losing it and he thinks we think he's a riot. So is Tuesday alright?"

"Can't you get one of the uncles to do it? I've still got a shot at making this one like me."

"That was one time, Neville, and the stain came out just fine!"

"With acid."

"The point is, water under the bridge!"

"Acid under the bridge."

Hannah snorted into her butterbeer and Harry and Neville grinned at each other.

"So, Tuesday then?"

"Tuesday."


End file.
